'Car-free' apartment blocks planned for town centre

Plans for 115 apartments in a Kent town centre will be "car free" and will not include parking, developers say.

New images from developer 7-Oaks Limited show two blocks of flats proposed for land off Fountain Street in Sittingbourne, close to the railway station.

A full planning application has been submitted to Swale Borough Council and the developers stress the site's location in the "heart of the town" as a reason for providing parking spaces exclusively for bikes, rather than cars.

An internal deadline for a decision on the plans has been set for 22 October, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

One bike parking space in a covered area will be provided for each of the apartments.

Swale council was notified of the scheme last year by 7-Oaks, which submitted brief details in March.

The Fountain Street site is currently vacant, and, according to planning documents, is "blighted by the fly-tipping of household waste, which gives a negative first impression and profile of the town centre in this prominent 'gateway' location".

"The site has remained derelict for over a decade and is identified by Swale council as a brownfield site suitable for residential development," the application adds.

Planning approval was previously given in 2017 for a 65-home block of apartments on the same site as part of the 'Spirit of Sittingbourne' redevelopment masterplan, but permission has since expired.

A draft scheme of 130 apartments spread over one 10-storey block was proposed in November, but has been altered after discussion with planning officers.

Of the 115 apartments, 25 will be studios, 57 will have one bedroom, and 33 will be two-beds.

The three entrances to the new estate will be gated, the plans say.

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